If you get caught speeding in Virginia you could find it difficult to break the speed limit again. The state is set to become the first to allow its judges to order speeders to install a device limiting how fast they can drive in the future. The new rules go beyond the speed warning devices European lawmakers have enacted, reports Headlight.News.
Nearly a third fewer vehicles qualified for awards from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety this year, compared to 2024. This reflects toughening crash test guidelines meant to protect rear-seat occupants. Headlight.News looks at which vehicles took IIHS’s coveted Top Safety Pick and Top Safety Pick+ awards this time around.
The car in front of you slams on the brakes. But you’re busy adjusting your vehicle’s climate settings and don’t notice. Luckily, your SUV is equipped with automatic emergency braking. It flashes a warning on the windshield, blares an alert and then slams on the brakes without your assistance, preventing a crash. A new study finds that vehicles with AEB technology are 49% less likely to be involved in front-to-rear crashes. Yet, a trade group representing a broad list of automakers has sued the federal government over rules that would make sure the technology is a standard feature by 2029.
General Motors will recall 449,671 pickups and SUVs due to faulty software that can lead to a failure of their brake fluid warning lights. The good new is that GM will use smartphone technology to make the repairs.
It’s now up to California Gov. Gavin Newsom to decide whether to sign a new bill that would require automakers to install a “passive intelligent speed assistance system” into all new vehicles sold in the state starting no later than 2030. Lawmakers sent the governor the measure as part of a crackdown on speeding – which is reportedly involved in a third of the state’s fatal crashes. The measure mandates the use of a warning device but some safety advocates want to go further, installing speed limiters.
Ford applied for a patent for a new system that could allow a driver to monitor whether other vehicles are speeding, information that could then be reported to police – though the automaker says it sees the technology as a way to make it even easier for cops to crack down on speeders. Meanwhile, Ford and other automakers face new legislation that could require future vehicles to come with speed limiters.
With fatalities rising fast, NHTSA has enacted rules requiring the use of sophisticated detection and auto-braking technologies intended to protect pedestrian – as well as those riding bicycles and motorcycles. But automakers are pushing back, claiming they can’t meet the new mandates set to go into effect in 2029.
Federal regulators said the number of Americans who died in highway crashes last year fell by 3.6%. But the total is still significantly higher than pre-pandemic levels, with safety experts pointing to a variety of causes, including distracted and drunk driving, as well as failure by passengers to wear seatbelts.
California lawmakers are considering a bill that could require new vehicles to come with an “intelligent speed limiter” that, in most instances, would prevent motorists from driving more than 10 mph above the speed limit. Such devices have also been recommended by the National Transportation Safety Board, though that has gained little traction on a federal level.
Tesla is coming under more intense fire as a result of a series of crashes involving its Autopilot system. The NTSB wants the automaker to block its use on roads where it’s not safe to operate. And California regulators say the name, Autopilot, is itself false and misleading and should be changed.